


Up in Arms for You

by mayflowers07



Series: i can be the one you call [2]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Doc and Bdubs are best friends who hate each other change my mind, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, Non-Sexual Safe Word Use, Self Confidence Issues, They/Them pronouns for Iskall, Violence, again its barely brought up though, also X is a void walker, it’s barely brought up but they’re enby, no beta we die like Scar to a panda, no blood though, since it’s his metal arm that’s injured
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayflowers07/pseuds/mayflowers07
Summary: Doc prided himself on his strength, both emotionally and physically. He didn’t need to count on anyone else for anything, because he was always strong enough to handle his issues on his own. So for him, using the code word for emergency situations was completely out of the picture. Nothing was worth revealing his weakness to the others.Of course, one accident in a prank gone wrong later, Doc might have to rethink his decision to not use the safe word and come to lean on his fellow Hermits when he can’t be strong anymore.(Part of a series, but you don’t need to read the first part to get this one. It just might help to clarify some things)
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), theyre a chaotic family who love each other very much
Series: i can be the one you call [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051148
Comments: 50
Kudos: 244





	Up in Arms for You

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic takes place right around the start of season seven, though keeping up with timelines of events isn’t really my forte. Just take anything about locations and builds with a grain of salt.
> 
> Also in case you haven’t read the last fic, let me just really quickly explain the concept this series is based off of: in Hermitcraft there is a code phrase Xisuma introduced years ago- blue creeper. If anyone says the phrase, it means something is seriously wrong and that everything has to be stopped to deal with whoever said it. It’s a way to ensure that even though the Hermits all prank each other, fight in wars, and have conflicts, it stays friendly and nothing gets taken too far. It also acts as an emergency sos in this fic specifically

If there was one thing Doc couldn’t stand, it was being weak.

I mean, he also couldn’t stand those damn Hippies. Or Bdubs not mowing the lawn. Or when his redstone didn’t work. Or Donald Trump. Or-

Okay, so there were a lot of things Doc couldn’t stand. But being weak was definitely at the top of the list.

Could you blame him? The man had a reputation to uphold! He was known server wide for his lethality, for his pvp skills, for unrelenting grind and rise to power- all titles he was quite proud of. It would do him no good to have all of that status washed away by a show of some pathetic mushy ‘feelings.’

And because of that stubbornness, Doc had set a rule for himself: the code was off limits. No matter what. If he was conscious enough to say ‘blue creeper’ in the first place, then he was conscious enough to deal with whatever situations he got into by himself. 

Sure, he would always- no matter what- come through for another Hermit who said it. There was no judgment towards them whatsoever. 

But he was Docm77! He was the GOAT! He was the strongest Hermitcraft had to offer. He wasn’t weak. He wouldn’t be weak. And he would never be caught dead saying the code.

…

Overall the day had gone pretty well. 

A recent business deal with Beef had left Doc with a pretty heavy pile of diamonds weighing down his pockets. Then after spending a week tinkering with it, he had finally finished the redstone for a new farm in the Nether he’d been building, meaning now the system was working smoothly. And he had bumped into Keralis while wandering around the shopping district, who decided he was feeling generous, and treated Doc to lunch on him. 

Around sunset even the weather was gorgeous. The clouds in the orange sky were fluffy and white, the air smelt of fresh grass and flowers, and the cool breeze felt nice against the warmer, biological creeper side of his face.

Doc could confidently say it had been a very fine and productive day on the server.

So it was only pleasant thoughts on his mind when he flew through the stifling heated air of the Nether hub towards his portal to sleep for the night. Thoughts of goats, of his trident, of the concrete Mumbo was lending him for his next big project that he was supposed to have picked up today but had entirely forgotten to do- 

Wait a minute.

Doc halted his elytra flight and landed just seconds before he was going to cross through the swirling purple of his base’s portal. He groaned in frustration at his own forgetfulness then contemplated. 

He was already in the Nether. It wouldn’t take that much longer for him to head to Mumbo’s portal, pop in and grab the concrete, and then head back. And it may have been getting late, but not so late that Mumbo was probably asleep already. It would be so quick, he wouldn’t even need to message Mumbo on the communicators.

With his mind made up to just get the errand over with tonight, Doc turned around and fired up his rockets, elytra picking up speed and whipping his hair as he squinted through the many confusing paths of the Nether roof trying to locate Mumbo’s portal.

After about five minutes of flying, Doc’s mechanical eye zoomed in and managed to catch a glimpse of a tucked away sign that labeled one portal as Mumbo’s base. He gave a quick relieved smile at that. Soon he would be home-sweet-home and tucked in his cozy bed.

The half creeper slowed his rocket barrage and came to a halt in front of the portal. His feet touched down, and he spent a minute or two fixing his now wind-whipped hair and straightening his lab coat. Once he was sure his appearance was solid, Doc stepped into the portal and awaited the stomach dropping feeling that let him know the teleportation had worked.

Which it did. When Doc’s vision was clear, he could see that he was now surrounded by the half-completed towering futuristic walls of Mumbo’s base. 

Doc stepped out and cleared his throat before announcing his presence. “Mumbo. Sorry I’m late, but I stopped by to pick up th-“

Mid-sentence he froze. Because to a regular human ear, he was sure the noise would have been way too faint to pick up. Luckily Doc wasn’t what one would call regular, and both his creeper half and his mechanical half lent to him having much better hearing then most of his friends. So when he faintly heard that tell-tale clicking and whirring of redstone, he knew that something must have been activated by his presence.

Instincts kicked in. Without a second thought he fired up a rocket and attempted to bolt away from whatever had been triggered by his arrival. 

This decision was his downfall. Just as he caught air, the panels on the floor on either side of him split open to reveal two halves of a large dark grey metal cage that came up and closed around the front of the portal entrance where he had been standing. 

If Doc had not tried to fly away, the cage would have neatly and humiliatingly captured him like a chicken in a coop. But because he had been taking off, he actually flew straight into the solid iron edge on the right side of the cage mid-air as it closed in. The contraption slammed into his arm and shoulder with a force that knocked the breath from his lungs like a punch, tore his right elytra wing to shred, and sent him sprawling out of the air and onto his stomach inside the cage, gasping for air with eyes wide from shock and cursing in German.

For a second, Doc wondered whether this was a trap set for him by Mumbo or if he had accidentally set off something meant for someone else- probably Grian.

For a second, Doc admired the wonderful redstone work that must have gone into the cage and its mechanisms and planned to ask Mumbo about them later, because they were clearly very powerful. If anything they were overkill.

For a second, Doc got his breathing back to normal, shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then turned onto his back, planning to get up and break his way out of the silly, annoying trap.

But only for a second.

Because then the pain hit.

And it hit like nothing he had ever felt before.

Intense, tight waves of burning traveled from around his right shoulder up his neck and down his chest. It made his head throb, his vision fuzzy and laced with red. His neck involuntarily wrenched to the left to try and escape the deep pain lacing up it. A scream tore from his throat. 

His right mechanical arm, which he couldn’t see from his angle starring in agony at the ceiling, was a whole array of sensations. Below the elbow he felt nothing- no pain, no pressure, no touch, nothing. Just a cold numbness that disturbingly reminded him of when he had first lost the arm.

From above that point to about the shoulder was on fire though. It had to be. The red hot layers of pain were like he had dipped his arm in lava, like it had been struck by lightning, like it was being ripped apart piece by piece. Just waves and waves of unending, unwavering pain.

What was happening?!

Doc bit his lip so hard blood began immediately welling up. With a humongous amount of effort, he managed to turn his head to look at the source of his pain lying splayed out beside him. 

And if the sight was beyond terrifying, so terrifying that he actually almost started hyperventilating just from looking at it? Well, no one was around to prove that.

His right arm was ripped apart. The cage walls must have hit just above his elbow, because below that his forearm was destroyed. The metal external pieces were mangled and twisted like scrap metal, barely holding together. Doc could see the internal pistons that moved his hand through the huge gashes- now smashed and dented beyond function. At some points, he could even right through his arm to the floor beneath him where everything had been ripped completely off. The metal and wiring pile that was once his hand was only connected to the abomination above it by a few stubborn wires where his wrist should have been.

Above the joint, the arm was also a mess. The whole thing was dented so bad it almost bent at a ninety degree angle between his shoulder and elbow. The clear fluid that usually flowed in his mechanical parts to keep him cool and keep the movements smooth leaked out from the many scratches like a sick imitation of actual blood. It was there that the electronic sensors acting as nerve endings were still intact but severely damaged, unlike in his forearm and hand where the sensors must have been destroyed. So it was from his upper arm that the unholy amalgamation of pain originated.

Everything hurt. The misery traveled up his neck and down his chest and around his back. His muscles all over his body- his legs, his jaw, his other arm- were all clenched and shaking from dealing with the agony. His mouth tasted of metal.

Doc couldn’t handle it. He was barely able to tear his eyes away from the massacre that was once his right arm to look back at the ceiling. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get up and free himself anytime soon.

Another shock of pain made him screech and slam his head back hard enough against the ground that if he didn’t have a concussion already, he probably gave himself one. Through heavy gritted teeth he inhaled and tried to think. He needed help. Soon.

With a shaky breath to try and get his control back long enough to say anything that wasn’t a scream of pain, he managed to call out, “Mumbo!” Even to his own ears, his voice sounded muffled, like he was yellin underwater.

No response came.

Doc’s torment-ladened mind was able to sluggishly put two and two together while staring with blurry vision at nothing. He realize that if Mumbo were in his base, he probably would have come after he heard the metal clang of the cage activating and entrapping him. He definitely would have come after hearing Doc’s first scream. And if the lack of any sound beyond the buzzing of damaged electronics and his own laboured breathing was an indication, Mumbo wasn’t coming even after his cry for help.

Which meant that Mumbo wasn’t in his base.

Which meant that Doc was all alone.

Which meant that no one was going to come and save him.

Unless he did something he had promised himself he was never going to do.

It was at that point that it all became too much for Doc. A sob rocked through his body and tears began pooling and falling down his organic eye. The mechanical one twitched and glitched out, like it knew it should be crying too.

It was just so embarrassing, to be stuck lying there. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had cried. It proved the fear that he had developed right after the accidental redstone explosion that had taken out his arm and eye in the first place: he was still too weak and still just a burden.

While trying to stifle his sobbing from both pain and defeat, Doc raised his left hand where he wore his communicator and opened up the group chat, although even looking at the screen was insanely hard when the pain was too much to focus on anything else. For a quick moment he hesitated, thinking about whether he really needed to alert everyone in such a big way. Then another burst of red-hot fire burned on his shoulder- so intense he screamed himself hoarse without even realizing it- and he knew there was no other choice.

So, with one hand and borderline delirious, Doc typed the code.

…

Docm77: bluue cree[per

TangoTek: !!!

BdoubleO100: Oh NO

Rendog: oh my god Doc dude what’s wrong

EthosLab: Doc are you okay where are you right now

Grian: Doc??

TangoTek: D what happened

FalseSymmetry: Doc, are you hurt? What’s wrong? Where are you?

Rendog: Why isn’t he responding oh no

Iskall85: he used the code he’s never done that it must be bad

Keralis: Doc please answer

FalseSymmetry: @ everyone does anyone have location on Doc

EthosLab: he’s not answering dms

ImpulseSV: yeah I messaged him too no response

TangoTek: Bdubs you guys share half a house go check on him

XisumaVoid: Yeah, please go and see if he’s in his base. 

BdoubleO100: guys I ran over as soon as I saw the message he’s not here

BdoubleO100: what do we do he’s not here

Grian: wait seriously?

MumboJumbo: oh dear god

XisumaVoid: Does anyone know where Doc last was?

VintageBeef: I saw him earlier today

Keralis: same but he left forever ago

Docm77: hurts sso bad dmjkk brokn arm itbroke i can’tge up llklklklkklkljm huhurts please help me

Grian: DOC

Iskall85: X he’s really hurt 

ImpulseSV: X!

BdoubleO100: Doc it's gonna be okay we're gonna find you

TangoTek: he’s really hurt holy

XisumaVoid: Doc, I know you’re in a lot of pain, and I’m so sorry about that but we need to know where you are to help you.

Rendog: doc bro please

Docm77: Mumbosbasee

MumboJumbo: ??? 

BdoubleO100: GO CHECK ON HIM!

GoodTimesWithScar: I’m closest I’m heading there now

Grian: same

MumboJumbo: I’m not at my base though I’m at my farms in the industrial district 

XisumaVoid: Scar, Grian, keep us updated. I’m flying over there too. Mumbo you should come join us immediately.

MumboJumbo: Right I’m leaving now

BdoubleO100: god my heart is pounding I hope he’s okay

EthosLab: I’m sure he’ll be fine

Keralis: it’s okay bubbles it’ll be okay

Grian: we’re here we’re here!

Grian: Iskall can you get here?! His prosthetic is super damaged and me and scar dont know what to about any of it

Iskall85: yeah yeah I can I’m coming!!

Rendog: what?

BdoubleO100: ahhhhhh

TangoTek: his arm is broken??

Cubfan135: that’s sounds bad

XisumaVoid: Grian I’m almost there. What’s happened?

Grian: it’s so bad his metal arm is completely destroyed he’s in this cage thing in Mumbos base and its just wrecked

Grian: guys he keeps screaming and crying scars trying to calm him down 

Grian: but I’ve never see Doc cry its awful

XisumaVoid: I’m right outside, I’m coming now to help. Iskall, I know you’ve done repairs on your own arm so we need you asap.

StressMonster101: oh poor dear no wonder he’s in pain

ImpulseSV: Mumbo what is in your base

VintageBeef: yeah what the heck

Rendog: whatever it is must have been bad

MumboJumbo: OH NO

MumboJumbo: oh god no I’m so so sorry it’s all my fault I’m sorry 

MumboJumbo: It was a hermit challenges thing I was supposed to catch the next person to break into my base so I trapped my main portal but I forgot he was supposed to come by today he must have gotten stuck and it caught his arm

MumboJumbo: I’m sorry it wasnt supposed to hurt anyone I’m sorry I’m so sorry 

XisumaVoid: It’s okay. It was clearly an accident.

XisumaVoid: Iskall is almost here so I’m going to give Doc some sleeping potions and mute the chat so we can focus on helping him. If we need anything from someone I will dm them, and I will update you all in the morning.

TangoTek: don't worry if there’s a situation the other admins will handle it

Cubfan135: yeah just help Doc we’ve got this

BdoubleO100: please make sure he’s okay

XisumaVoid: Okay well in that case, I will see you all in the morning.

…

The first thing Doc thought when he woke up was that his bed was very warm and wonderful, but also that he was so tired any bed would probably feel like heaven to him.

The second thing he thought was shock and then amazement. Because he realized suddenly that there was no more pain. His right arm was completely pain-free. So with a heavy-lid, Doc managed to crack his eye open and see that his arm was good as new, not a dent or scratch in sight. He stared for a second at the miraculous sight, then gently made a fist with his hand. He could barely believe how smooth it all felt.

Last night came back to him slowly, like a dream, as he stared around his sun lit bedroom:

After sending the messages, Doc had been consumed by the pain, finding little else to do then sob at each peak in the fire. He only managed to calm down marginally when he realized Scar and Grian had arrived. Scar had lifted Doc’s head up and placed it in his lap, whispering soothing words to him about help coming while Grian kneeled on his left and held his organic, non-broken hand. When the hybrid’s sobbing turned to pathetic whimpers and he became more coherent, he realized just how hard he was squeezing Grian’s hand, but the sweet touch compared to his lonely agony before was too nice for him to let go. Soon a whirring of rockets signified the arrival of Xisuma. The admin rushed into the room and took in the site of his Hermits in the now-broken cage. After a quick conversation, Xisuma gently shifted his head and took Scar’s place. The man then did a rapid but thorough medical check to assure he wasn’t in life-threatening danger. Once he was sure that Doc was okay, Xisuma coaxed Doc to slowly but surely drink a sickly sweet potion that left him bone-tired and thankfully numb to the pain. Sleep chased him to unconsciousness soon after.

It was all surreal and horrible to think about. He had been so emotional in front of his friends. They had seen him at his absolute worst. Scar, Grian, and Xisuma probably all thought him so pathetic.

Doc was pulled back to the present out of his self-loathing by the sounds of shifting floorboards behind his door letting him know that someone was about to come in.

Sure enough, Xisuma shuffled in and very slowly closed the door to avoid noise, probably expecting Doc to still be asleep. It was almost comical to see the admin tiptoe in only to look up at go wide eyed at the site of Doc smirking at him.

“Hey man,” Doc tried to say in a rough, abused voice.

Xisuma inhaled sharply and walked up to the bed, then softly pulled Doc into a hug. His voice cracked a bit in the middle of the sentence like he was trying not to cry, and he cradled the back of Doc’s head like he was something precious. “Oh, thank the Void you’re okay. You’ve been asleep for two days, and we’ve been so worried.”

Blinking once and then joining the hug by throwing both his new and old arm around Xisuma, Doc responded, “Hey, it’ll take more than a little redstone and iron to take me down X.”

The man in question pulled away a bit to look Doc in the eye, though he still kept one hand on Doc’s shoulder and rubbed soothing circles on it with his thumb.

“I know, but it nearly did though. If the cage had hit your chest or your head instead of your arm, I shudder to think of the damage it would have done.”

“Well it didn’t,” Doc insisted, though even thinking about how awful that may have been for him made him wince and shove that thought out of his mind, “now that I’m awake, an explanation of what exactly happened would be nice.”

Xisuma sighed and carefully sat down on the bed next to the half-creeper. “Actually it might be better if I message everyone to let them know you’re up. Mumbo has been in near hysterics waiting to apologize to you, and Iskall will probably want to double-check everything in your arm just in case.”

“... so everyone knows what happened then?” Doc asked with a grimace as he sat up, previous exhaustion slowly fading and being replaced by the anxiety of the whole server knowing of his failure.

Seeing his friend’s distress, Xisuma was firm but also paternal in a way when he answered, “Yes they do. You messaged the entire group chat. But no one is judging you for it. No one thinks you’re weak.”

Doc’s eye widened. Of course Xisuma, the all-knowing admin and long-time friend, would be able to perfectly pick apart his fears.

The void-walker kept talking. “Doc, we’ve been extremely worried. When you sent the code, everyone was so scared. No one has known how to act since you sent it. I had to threaten to knock Iskall out with a potion to get them to take a break from working on your arm all night, Bdubs started crying when he visited you this morning and saw you unconscious, Mumbo has barely been eating or sleeping because of how guilty he feels, Grian, Scar, and Ren have basically been camping outside your house waiting for you to wake up. We’re your family, and real family doesn’t judge when you get knocked down- they just help you pick yourself back up again. We all just want you to be alright, and be able to call us when you’re not.”

By the end of the speech, Doc was crying again. Not sobbing as hard as he was earlier, but there was a wetness in his eyes and a break in his voice when he quietly replied, “Thank you X… I think I needed to hear that.”

And when the admin opened his arms up to pull Doc into another hug and Doc basked in the warm comfort with tears still falling, he didn’t feel weak at all.

In fact, Doc felt stronger than ever.

… 

(BONUS AFTER CONTENT!!!)

A couple minutes later, Xisuma sent a picture to the group chat of him sitting next to an awake Doc who was holding up the rock-and-roll sign on his new metal hand. The caption under it was ‘sleeping beauty has finally woke up.’ After that, there was a never-ending flow of visitors at his door. 

Doc made sure to thank Iskall for their wonderful job fixing the arm, as well as Grian and Scar for showing up initially, and Xisuma for watching over him, and promised them all an IOU. When they instead pulled him into a group hug and declined the IOU, saying that him being okay was enough of a reward, it definitely tugged at his heartstrings. 

Of course Bdubs later came in and immediately started jokingly complaining about how obnoxious it was for Doc to just knock out and leave him alone with no one to pester with their neighbourly rivalry for two days. Naturally Doc started bickering with him right back (to the amusement of Ren and Keralis, who were also visiting at the same time), though everyone in the room could see how closely Bdubs leaned against Doc during their arguing and how he looked infinitely less stressed once he heard Doc laugh at a stupid pun Ren made.

And while it was hard to make out what Mumbo was saying word-for-word through all of the guilty crying and nervous stammering, Doc got the idea and accepted his apology. Accidents happened. Though he did make Mumbo promise to show him how he designed the cage once he was fully up and recovered.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was definitely fun to write. I’ve noticed that if you search the hurt/comfort tag with Doc, you realize that there are rarely any fics with Doc being the one to be comforted after being hurt. Which is a shame because he’s one of my favourite Hermits so I decided to make the content I wanted. This is how I show my love, by writing brutal angst for my favourite characters and then giving them soft hugs and love after.
> 
> For the next part of this series I am thinking of doing either Tango or Iskall using the code, though I’m not gonna spoil any specifics as to what they’re using it for. If you guys have any suggestions at all about what scenarios I should write about for other Hermits, let me know in the comments!


End file.
